Posts Tagged ‘Bill Callahan’

Mad Mackerel’s Favourite Albums Of 2013 (Part 2: 30 -11)

Posted: December 21, 2013 in Acoustic, Alternative, Americana, Country, Electronic, Folk, Garage, Indie, Music, Pop, Psychedelic, Punk, Rock
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Here is the second instalment of our favourite albums of 2013, counting down from 30 to 11.

30 Nick Cave – Push The Sky Away

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29 Caitlin Rose – The Stand-In

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28 Coke Weed – Back To Soft

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27 Georgia’s Horse – Weather Codes

Georgia's Horse Release Weather Codes

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26 Alela Diane – About Farewell

MM Shorts 333: Alela Diane's New Album

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25 Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

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24 Quiet American – Wild Bill Jones

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23 The National – Trouble Will Find Me

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22 Torres – Torres

MM Shorts 289: Torres

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21 Bill Callahan – Dream River

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20 Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt

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19 Wooden Wand & The World War IV – Wooden Wand & The World War IV

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18 Various Artists – Divided & United The Songs Of The Civil War

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17 Blitzen Trapper – VII

BLITZEN TRAPPER

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16 Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle

New Album From Laura Marling

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15 Mark Mulcahy – Dear Mark J Mulcahy, I Love You

More From Mark Mulcahy

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14 Thee Oh Sees – Floating Coffin

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13 Cass McCombs – Big Wheel And Others

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12 Low – The Invisible Way

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11 Terry Malts – Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere

New Album From Terry Malts

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See numbers 50 – 31 here.

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Mad Mackerel’s Top Tracks of 2013: 100 – 76

Posted: December 10, 2013 in Alternative, Americana, Country, Electronic, Folk, Garage, Indie, Music, Pop, Psychedelic, Rock
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MM's Top Tracks of 2013: 100 - 76

It is that time of year again. The votes have been polled from our MM contributors, the results collated and without further ado, here are Mad Mackerel’s favourite hundred tracks of 2013.

Today, we’re counting down the first twenty five, from 100-76.

100 Woody Pines – Hobo And His Bride
Classic, ramblin’ country blues, where songs are filled with characters fighting to climb up or sliding their way back down – wandering broken hearts, swaggering pimps, crusty hobos – and all inhabiting rundown roadhouses, juke joints and the dusty backroads. Have a listen to the epic tale of young love, The Hobo And His Bride.

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99 The Dodos – Confidence
Warm and wiry indie rock.

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98 Blessed Feathers – Real Song For Emily
Fiercer harmonies and a tenser, more urgent feel than this duo usually give us. Despite being only two and a half minutes long, the song’s plaintive coda has a bitter air of finality.

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97 Bill Callahan – The Sing
“Well the only words I said today are “beer” and “thank you” / Beer, thank you / Beer, thank you / Beer”

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96 Best Coast – Fear Of My Own Identity
The best fuzzed up pop single of the year.

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95 Eula – I Collapse
Seething, fractured, post-punk blues.

Download Eula – I Collapse mp3

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94 Torres – Honey
A single distorted guitar strum, unsupressed tension, and a raw, slow-burning payoff.

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93 Mark Mulcahy – Let The Fireflies Fly Away
Penguins, a hitch-hiking chicken, a donkey in a Chevrolet and a monkey family feud.

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92 Coke Weed – Sunseekers
A woozy, narcoleptic trip through the realms of psychedelia, indie rock and hazy Americana.

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91 Water Liars – Sucker
The first of three entries from Water Liars. Sucker is the buzzing opener to one of our albums of the year.

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90 The Oblivians – Run For Cover
Garage punks first album for 16 years didn’t disappoint. Run For Cover was a high octane highlight.

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89 Grass House – Spinning As We Turn
Cascading guitars and a hypnotic rhythm section that channels the spirits of Joe Meek and the Velvets.

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88 Ooga Boogas – Sex In The Chillzone
Featuring members of long time faves Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Sex In The Chillzone is an eight minute psych-rock lockdown into the year’s grooviest bass line that sounds like a blend of the Velvet Underground and Parliament.

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87 Of Montreal – Imbecile Rages
“Your folks, they are such lovely people / I can’’t understand where you came from“, one of the best opening couplets of this or any other year.

 

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86 The Acquaintances – Paramounts
Tremolo’ed and reverby guitars and echoed out vocals wash over a top-notch rhythm section creating spaced-out garage-influenced rock with a melodic sensibility.

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85 Dim Peaks – Reason
Laid back, folk infused Americana.

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84 Colleen Green – Heavy Shit
Totally infectious, stoned punk.

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83 Shadows At Play – Into The Sun
Upbeat, ethereal folk song that alludes to the Greek mythology story of Icarus, exploring the notion that a man is free once he is defeated.

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82 Harmed Brothers – Love Song For The Assumed
Mixing folk and bluegrass with a wistful twist of poignant melancholy, Love Song For The Assumed was as sweet and as simple a song of heartbreak and longed for resolution as we heard in the whole year.

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81 Villagers – Nothing Arrived
I’m loving the piano this year and there’s a good bit of gutsy playing here. What were we hoping to get out of this boys? Nothing actually. People are so bloody disappointing aren’t they? (Mrs M)

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80 Phox – Noble Heart

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79 Black Angels – Indigo Meadow
Tribal drumming, 60s Hammer-Horror organ, and reverb.

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78 The Coathangers – Adderall
A propulsive, jittery, slice of post-punk agitation, borne in on the back of tribal drums and a perfect match for a commonly abused drug used to stimulate the central nervous system!

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77 Steve Mason – Lot Of Love
Love the piano on this song and the catchy, sing-a-long chorus – a guaranteed earworm if I had any (ears that is… being a fish, of course.) Steve Mason’s gentle vocals reflect on love lost and the hope of finding it again. (Mrs M)

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76 Jules Larson & AG – Bend Into The Break

Check back tomorrow for tracks 51-75.

Daytrotter Reaches 2,000

Posted: June 7, 2012 in Acoustic, Alternative, Americana, Blues, Country, Folk, Indie, Music, Psychedelic, Rock
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Daytrotter Reaches 2,000 Sessions - Free Mix.

The wonderful Daytrotter recently announced their 2,000th session and managed to get none other than Country music legend Glen Campbell in to record it, followed swiftly by a new session from the brilliant Delta Spirit.

For those that don’t know Daytrotter sessions are typically four songs in length, recorded live to quarter-inch tape in a matter of a couple hours, with no overdubs. They are then made available for download and streaming on the site and its various apps. Since beginning in February of 2006, Daytrotter has given away tens of millions of downloads and countless many more streams. In addition to studios in Rock Island and London, Daytrotter sessions are also occasionally taped in San Francisco, CA, Asheville, NC, Nashville, TN and Montreal.

Accessing all these sessions plus all the upcoming ones by all the bands you know and love costs a paltry $2 per month. For your ongoing listening pleasure we can’t think of anything anywhere that will give you better value than that. Below are just a very few highlights from some of the sessions we have loved – listen (they should fit neatly onto a CD), and if you haven’t done it yet, go and sign up here.

Download We Are Augustines – Ballad Of A Patient Man mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download The Cave Singers – Cold Eye mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download The Felice Brothers – Marlboro Man mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Phosphorescent  – Cocaine Lights mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Father John Misty – I’m Writing A Novel mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download A.A. Bondy – Witness Blues mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Justin Townes Earle – Lone Pine Hill mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download The Tallest Man On Earth – Shallow Grave mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Gabriel & The Hounds –  When We Die In South America mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Jessica Lea Mayfield – Our Hearts Are Wrong mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Liars – Scarecrows On A Killer Slant mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download The Low Anthem – Ticket Taker mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Bill Callahan – Eid Ma Clack Shaw mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Middle Brother – Portland mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Arborea – Black Is The Colour mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Heartless Bastards – Got To Have Rock ‘n’ Roll mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Port O’Brien – A Bird Flies By mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download The Dutchess & The Duke – Scorpio mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download KaiserCartel – Carroll Street Station mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Ray Wylie Hubbard – Drunken Poet’s Dream mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

Download Sandman The Rappin’ Cowboy – White Line Highway mp3 (from Daytrotter Session)

The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered For Mojo

Posted: January 28, 2012 in Country, Folk, Indie, Music, Rock
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The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered For Mojo.

As is often their wont, Mojo magazine have produced another fine cover disc this month, with a tribute to Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece of a debut The Songs Of Leonard Cohen plus a ‘bonus’ of five extra classic tracks from his back catalogue.

The array of artists is mightily impressive from acclaimed new soul artist Michael Kiwanuka to Cass McCombs, Field Music and J Tillman recording under the name Father John Misty. The bonus tracks include Dan Michaelson, Diagrams and My Brightest Diamond.

As always, Mojo is available from all decent newsagents. Certainly worth it as it is one of the best music monthlies we have.

Here are two of our favourites from Bill Callahan and his version of So Long Marianne and the Low Anthem putting their stamp on Stories Of The Street.

Download Bill Callahan – So Long Marianne mp3 (from The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered)

Download The Low Anthem – Stories Of The Street mp3 (from The Songs Of Leonard Cohen Covered)

Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 2 (30 – 11)

Posted: December 30, 2011 in Alternative, Ambient, Blues, Country, Folk, Garage, Indie, Music, Pop, Psychedelic, Rock
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Carrying on from where we left off yesterday…

30 Josh T Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen

Download Josh T Pearson – Woman When I’ve Raised Hell…(Alternative Version) mp3

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New Album From Real Estate.

29 Real Estate – Days

Download Real Estate – Green Aisles mp3 (from Days)

Download Real Estate – It’s Real mp3 (from Days)

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28 Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest

Download Gillian Welch – The Way It Goes mp3 (from The Harrow & The Harvest)

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27 War On Drugs – Slave Ambient

Download The War On Drugs – Come To The City mp3 (from Slave Ambient)

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Mad Mackerel Recommends...Mikal Cronin.

26 Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin

Download Mikal Cronin – Apathy mp3 (from Mikal Cronin)

Download Mikal Cronin – Get Along mp3 (from Mikal Cronin)

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25 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Download Girls – Vomit mp3 (from Father, Son, Holy Ghost)

Download Girls – Honey Bunny mp3 (from Father, Son, Holy Ghost)Removed by order some uninformed halfwit – available everywhere else for free on the web

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24 Wooden Shjips – West

Download Wooden Shjips – Lazy Bones mp3 (from West)

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23 Metronomy – The English Riviera

Download Metronomy – The Look mp3 (from The English Riviera)

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Henry's Funeral Shoe Release Donkey Jacket.

22 Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Donkey Jacket

Download Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Anvil And Chains mp3 (from Donkey Jacket)

Download Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Dog Scratched Ear mp3 (from Donkey Jacket)

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21 Decemberists – The King Is Dead

Download The Decemberists – This Is Why We Fight mp3 (from The King Is Dead)

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20 Dennis Hopper Choppers – Be Ready

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19 Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

Download Bill Callahan – Baby’s Breath mp3 (from Apocalypse)

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18 Moon Duo – Mazes

Download Moon Duo – Mazes mp3 (from Mazes)

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17 Black Keys – El Camino

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Wooden Wand Releases Briarwood Tomorrow.

16 Wooden Wand – Briarwood

Download Wooden Wand – Winter In Kentucky mp3 (from Briarwood)

Download Wooden Wand – Big Mouth USA mp3 (from Briarwood)

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15 Wilco – The Whole Love

Download Wilco – I Might mp3 (from The Whole Love)

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14 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

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13 Yuck – Yuck

Download Yuck – Holing Out mp3 (from Yuck)

Download Yuck – Dark Magnet mp3 (from Yuck)

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12 Hurray For The Riff Raff – Hurray For The Riff Raff

Download Hurray For The Riff Raff – Too Much Of A Good Thing mp3 (from Hurray For The Riff Raff)

Download Hurray For The Riff Raff – Take Me mp3 (from Hurray For The Riff Raff)

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11 Richmond Fontaine – The High Country

Download Richmond Fontaine – The Mechanic’s Life mp3 (from The High Country)

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Top Ten tomorrow!

Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: March

Posted: April 1, 2011 in Alternative, Ambient, Blues, Country, Electronic, Folk, Garage, Indie, Music, Pop, Psychedelic, Punk, Rock
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Another bonanza month. Another round up of the very best tracks we posted in March. Another selection of new tunes to get your teeth into too.

So without further ado…

Download White Denim – Drug mp3 (from D)

First taste of rockers new album. Bodes well. Very well.

Download The Everymen – Ballad Of Sarin mp3 (from Hello, Nice Evening. We Are The Everymen)

Cocksure but not arrogant, intense without being overwhelming, and high on the sleaze factor as the shredded vocals of Sarin McHugh gleefully sit astride pounding drums and thunderous guitars.

Download Strand Of Oaks – Wolves mp3 (Phosphorescent Cover via Folkadelphia Session)

Cover song heaven?  (MM faves) Strand of Oaks covering the sublime Wolves by (MM faves) Phosphorescent.

Download The Rural Alberta Advantage – North Star mp3 (from Departing)

A perfectly pitched tale of longing and desperation.

Download Widowspeak – Harsh Realm mp3 (from Harsh Realm 7″)

A nicely hazy, dreamy pop nugget that makes those Mazzy Star comparisons completely understandable.

Download Tyburn Saints – You’ve Gone Stray mp3 (from For The Benefit Of Strangers)

The theme tune to a slasher film written by Nick Cave? It could well be the sexiest serial killer based love song ever written.

Download Cult of Youth – New West mp3 (from Cult of Youth)

The dramatically deep baritone of vocalist Sean Ragon is enough to create a palpable sense of menace and foreboding which we’re quite fond of here at MM.

Download Obits – Shift Operator mp3 (from Moody, Standard and Poor)

Surf influenced, stripped back, garage rock.

Download The Owsley Brothers – Under The Shade Of A Live Oak mp3 (from Separated At Birth)

A slow, pulsing blues riff and a plaintive vocal combine perfectly to give us a song so authentic that it sounds like it was made to be sung in the cottonfields and on backwoods porches throughout the South.

Download The Diamond Center – Caraway mp3 (from Caraway 7″)

A haunting, echoing melancholy feel that spreads over almost six and a half pulsing minutes and somehow manages to soothe and surprise in equal measure.

Download Generationals – Ten-Twenty-Ten mp3 (from Actor-Caster)

Hands down the catchiest slice of indie-rock we’ve posted in a good long while.

Download Mathew Sawyer & The Ghosts – Revenge of The Extra From Zulu mp3 (from How Snakes Eat)

Fragile folk gem married to caustic lyrical venom. Result: a winner.

Download Alela Diane – To Begin mp3 (from Alela Diane & Wild Devine)

Bold and self-assured with more of a countrified twang than her usual sparser, pastoral folk feel.

Download The Lumerians – Gaussian Castles mp3 (from Transmalinnia)

Meditative drones, murky ritualistic rhythms, and layered vocals populate and abound. Dive in!

Download Josh T Pearson – Woman When I’ve Raised Hell…(Alternative Version) mp3

Seven heart wrenching minutes of the most despairing ballad in a long, long time documenting the relentless pain and suffering caused when a relationship passes from failing to broken.

Download The Donkeys – Don’t Know Who We Are mp3 (from Born With Stripes)

A perfect slice of twangy relaxed sunshine rock.

Download Dead Gaze – Fishing With Robert mp3 (from Dead Gaze 7″)

A marvellous combination of fuzzy vocal dischord over a folkish guitar strum, and a side order of New Order poppiness.

Download Erland & The Carnival – Nightingale mp3 (from Nightingale)

The reinventing of old folklore into sinister modern day fairytales.

Download Arborea – Careless Love mp3 (from Red Planet)

Mixing folk, some floating, spacey drone and minimalist percussion with Shanti Curran’s gorgeous vocals to mesmerising effect, the spine tingling results are stark, but beautifully compelling.

Download Paleo – In The Movies mp3 (from Fruit Of The Spirit)

Two minutes of indie folk perfection with a melody so catchy you’ll be humming it for days.

Download James Leg – Drowning In Fire mp3 (from Solitary Pleasure)

Imagine if the Black Keys sold their souls to the devil – they’d probably end up playing like this.

Download Twilight Hotel – Mahogany Veneer mp3 (from When The Wolves Go Blind)

A brilliant combination of alt-country and spaghetti-western desert twang that moves languidly to conclusion via poignant, scalpel sharp lyrics.

Download Bill Callahan – Baby’s Breath mp3 (from Apocalypse)

First taste from new album. More classic singer-songwriting!

Download Thurston Moore – Benediction mp3 (from Demolished Thoughts)

Personal and slightly brooding piece of work from the quieter, more introspective end of his musical spectrum.

Download Psychedelic Horseshit – French Countryside mp3 (from Laced)

Bustling, uptempo, hook-laden, melted outsider pop song.

Download Marissa Nadler – Baby I Will Leave You In The Morning mp3 (from Marissa Nadler)

Ethereal songwriting, rich with imagery and beautiful textures.

Download Fucked Up! – The Other Shoe mp3 (from David Comes To Life)

Punk rockers find a mellower more introverted side.

Download The Limianas – AF3548 mp3 (from AF3548 7″)

More authentic garage rock’n’roll done to perfection.

Download Damon Moon & The Whispering Drifters – Heaven Was A Glass Of Wine mp3 (Merle Haggard Cover from Snowed In Sessions EP)

Gorgeously cracked and bleeding version of Merle Haggard’s despairing original.

Download James Irwin – Blue Dust mp3 (from Blue Dust Digital Single)

A fine example of indie-folk of the very best kind.

Download The Builders & The Butchers – Rotten To The Core mp3 (from Dead Reckoning)

Calls to mind the blood and thunder preachers in dusty pulpits, the hellfires and the brimstone, and the intense fury of both the righteous and the scorned.

Download Brown Bird – Bilgewater mp3 (from The Sound of Ghosts EP)

A mix of sparse, haunted folk, outlaw country and gypsy riot!

And to finish off, here is another Strand of Oaks cover, this time of Joe Pug’s wonderful Hymn 101, a rare remix (for us anyway) of Moon Duo, a wonderful new band in the shape of rootsy trio Cowboy And Indian, the title track from blistering blues-rock duo White Mystery’s new album Blood & Venom and in the krautrock rhythms and pyschedelia of Echo Lady, probably Wet Hair’s finest release to date.

Download Strand Of Oaks – Hymn 101 mp3 (Joe Pug cover)

Download Moon Duo – In The Sun (Purling Hiss Remix) mp3

Download Cowboy And Indian – Ledbellies (Hurt My Pride) mp3 (from Cowboy And Indian)

Download White Mystery – Blood & Venom mp3 (from Blood & Venom)

Download Wet Hair – Echo Lady mp3 (from In Vogue Spirit)

Bill Callahan Is Back

Posted: March 23, 2011 in Folk, Indie, Music
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We were relative latecomers to the delights of Smog and of Bill Callahan – it was while watching the brilliant Shane Meadows directed Dead Man’s Shoes, hearing the desperate, cracked majesty of Vessel In Vain on the soundtrack, and knowing that was a song we had to have. Immediately.

We’ve since spent a lot of time with his records and so it is a great delight to have Baby’s Breath for you – the first track from his forthcoming record Apocalypse, which is out on Drag City on the 19th April.

You can also check out his back catalogue on Amazon here.

Download Bill Callahan – Baby’s Breath mp3 (from Apocalypse)